ISHS Acta Horticulturae 356: II International Symposium on Olive Growing
POSSIBILITIES OF MECHANICAL PRUNING IN TRADITIONAL OLIVE GROVES |
| Authors: | G. GIAMETTA, G. ZIMBALATTI |
| Keywords: | work productivity, pruner machine, power saw |
| Abstract:
Most olive-groves are old and characterized by medium and large-sized trees; these olives-trees are not pruned for several years on account of the large number of workers, the high cost of labour and the increasing shortage of skilled manpower. So mechanical pruning is the only alternative to non-pruning or pluriennal pruning. Therefore, the Institute of Agricultural Engineering has been investing new solutions to these problems for a long time. Actually tests were carried out in some old olive-groves with medium and big-sized trees. Where possible a pruning-machine with circular saws was employed, whereas different working chains, utilizing motor saws, were tested in olive-groves characterized by trees with a big crown. The results obtained provided useful information on the possibility of mechanizing this important cultural operation even in traditional olive-groves, where mechanical pruning is sometimes "difficult". | |
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